Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Cropping Photos with Picasa

When you shoot photos, it’s best to compose the picture in the camera exactly the way you want it in your prints. Unfortunately, that noble and artistic goal isn’t always possible. For example, sometimes when shooting a sports event or a performance, you can’t get close enough to the subject. Other times, there’s something in the frame that you didn’t notice when you were focusing on the subject. Or perhaps you want your image to be a perfect square instead of the rectangular format your camera shoots. Whatever the reason, Picasa is there to help you crop your image. (For a word of caution about when not to crop, check out the box in Section 9.3.1.)

Picasa makes it easy to crop any photo so it’ll fit exactly on standard print paper (4 x 6, 5 x 7, and 8 x 10), but you can crop to any size as long as it’s rectangular.

Here are the steps:

1. In the Lightbox, double-click the photo to open it in Edit View.

   You see your soon-to-be-cropped photo in the work area filling most of the screen. To the left are several buttons, tempting you with photo-fixing options.

2. In the Basic Fixes panel at left, click the Crop button.

   Picasa presents you with radio buttons showing dimensions: 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and 8 x 10 (Figure 9-8). If you plan to print your photo to one of these sizes, then choose that format. When you’re feeling in more of a freeform mood, choose the Manual option.

3. Drag your cursor across the image to indicate the area you want to keep.

   A rectangle appears over the ...